ALAN PARDEW has warned Sammy Ameobi that he is running out of time to establish himself as a Newcastle United player, with the current campaign on Tyneside likely to be the midfielder’s last.

Ameobi entered the final year of his contract this summer, and as things stand, he will not be offered a new deal at the end of the season.

Regarded as a bright young talent when he first emerged onto the senior scene in May 2011, the 22-year-old’s career has stagnated in the last couple of years.

A loan spell at Middlesbrough in 2013 failed to spark him into life, and he made just four Premier League starts for the Magpies in the whole of last season.

No longer a callow youngster, Ameobi should be establishing himself as a first-team regular if he is going to carve out a long-term career at St James’, and Pardew has taken him to one side to spell out the importance of the next few months.

“Sammy is a player who has unbelievable talent, but we have been waiting and waiting for him to deliver something on the football pitch,” said the Magpies manager. “I warned him this week I am running out of time with him, and he is running out of chances.”

With Pardew expected to make a number of changes when Newcastle take on Crystal Palace in the Capital One Cup tomorrow evening, Ameobi is likely to make his first start of the season at Selhurst Park.

He was an 85th-minute substitute for Cheick Tiote at the weekend, with his late surge up the left-hand side helping to win the throw in that eventually led to Papiss Cisse’s dramatic equaliser.

That piece of positive running highlighted the explosive energy and dribbling ability that has sporadically made Ameobi a useful asset, particularly in the closing stages of games when opponents are tiring.

However, he has only ever displayed his best form in brief patches, and his overall game management still leaves a lot to be desired.

“He comes on and changes the game a little bit,” said Pardew. “He runs up the pitch, takes players on and that is what we want. The guy is six foot seven, but then he concedes a free-kick and we could lose the game.

“These are the things you have to learn, even in a pressure situation like Saturday. Those building blocks are always going on and you have to learn from what happens in a game like that.”

Cisse’s confidence should be boosted as a result of his two-goal burst, although with the Senegal international only just having returned from a long-term lay-off because of a knee injury, there is little chance of him being asked to play his second game in the space of five days tomorrow.

Remy Cabella is also likely to be rested against Palace, despite Pardew’s delight at seeing the Frenchman step up the plate when Newcastle desperately needed a creative spark in the second half of Saturday’s game.

“I was so pleased with Cabella because we paid a lot of money for him,” he said. “It was a case of, ‘Come on, son, you better start delivering’, and he delivered, causing them a lot of problems. He can grow and build on that performance.”